School Board officially adopts budget

The Shelter Island Board of Education has adopted a $9.7 million budget proposal that would increase the district’s tax levy by 1.9 percent, just slightly less than it had anticipated. The action came at a budget meeting April 18 with Superintendent Michael Hynes announcing that, thanks to an increase in state aid, he had recalculated the numbers and found the budget proposal would reduce the rise in the tax levy from 1.96 percent to 1.9 percent.

Currently, taxpayers pay $5.7278 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. If the budget passes, it would be $5.8366.

The proposal, on which residents will vote May 15, meets the aims Dr. Hynes and board members set from the outset of the budget planning process that began in January, he said. Besides staying within the state-mandated tax levy cap, those goals included preserving programs vital to continued student growth; maintenance of educational opportunities within and outside the school; maximizing staff productivity; and budgeting within fiscal realities facing Island residents.

While he said he regretted that cuts had to be made in the sports and co-curricular programs and in one custodial position, Dr. Hynes said he believed the proposed budget meets the district’s goals.

He spoke briefly about plans to combine kindergarten and first grade classes and to use team teaching in the third and fourth grades. But his explanations dealt not with costs so much as a means of taking steps that would be educationally sound, he said.

He’s had “quite a few lively discussions” privately with parents about combining the kindergarten and first grade classes, Dr. Hynes said. The goal is achieving “desired outcomes” in student literacy skills, he explained. There would be other “structural changes” over the next few years that would enhance educational programs, he added.

With respect to “team teaching” in the third and fourth grades, Dr. Hynes said students will have both a teacher who is adept at English language arts and another whose skills are concentrated on math and science.

Asked if there was a chance of restoring funding for the literary magazine in the 2012-13 school year, Board President Stephen Gessner said the board would look at the situation again in the fall. Dr. Hynes cautioned that cuts made to various co-curricular activities had been spread across the board and he hoped that student writing skills would benefit both from work on the school newspaper and a new journalism course being added to the curriculum.

Overall, Dr. Gessner called the budget proposal “remarkable” given the 2-percent tax cap requirement.

RAIN GARDEN

Science Club President Andrei Oraseanu and teacher Daniel Williams outlined plans for development of a “rain garden” to be created on the playground side of the school. The project is being funded by the Peconic Estuary to show how plants filter runoff that could otherwise find its way into surrounding waterways. It’s called a rain garden because it will require no watering.

Mr. Williams briefly described the new Intel science program being instituted in the curriculum next fall to train students in the use of technology. He’s planning a three-year program. During the initial year, students will learn about how to use equipment and getting training in some of the basics, he said. The second year, students would be involved in projects that Mr. Williams will initiate. In the third year, he hopes, students would work on their own ideas for projects.

He also endorsed Dr. Gessner’s suggestion about tapping into the many Island retirees with scientific expertise and said he planned to pair students with mentors.

RETIREMENTS

With several school staff members slated to retire at the end of the school year, plans are afoot to develop a special program to honor them. Those retiring as of June 30 are elementary teacher Kathleen Cogan; business education teacher Katherine Doroski; home and careers teacher Veronica Siller; special education teacher Robin Anderson; English language arts teacher Jenifer Corwin; math teacher Audrey Pedersen; food service worker Mary Ruth Kehoe; cook Melanie Mitchell and account clerk Barbara Jean Ianfolla.

English language arts teacher Logan Kingston is not retiring but is leaving the district as of August 1.

“The collective wisdom that’s leaving this building is impossible to replace,” Dr. Hynes said.

NEW PERSONNEL

Board members approved the hiring of Mary Boeklen for a 26-week probationary position that began April 19 as a teacher aide for special education. Lindsay Springer was hired as a part-time teacher aide to work three hours a day beginning April 19 and ending June 22. Christine Gallagher was tapped as a leave replacement for elementary teacher Kathleen Cogan, having started work on February 12 and continuing until June 22.